Rescue, Rehabilitation and Release: Saving Peru's native parrots

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A message from the

Chairperson

LEGACY for parrots

Hyacinth Macaw © Corey Raffel

| E d i to r i a l

Rescue, Rehabilitation and Release: Saving Peru’s Native Parrots from Trade

by Rosa Elena Zegarra, WPT Central America Representative and Catalina Hermosa-Guerra, President, Peruvian Association of Wildlife Vets

It’s a difficult subject, the wild parrot trade. Difficult to understand how the simple joy of sharing life with a fascinating bird turned into a massive trade, difficult to comprehend the numbers involved and imagine each bird’s experiences. Very difficult to fight the destructive illegal trade, especially now that social media is being exploited by traffickers.

In September 2018, after a one-hour flight and a three-hour journey by car, 120 survivors from a group of 350 seized parrots were received by the dedicated staff of Centro de Rescate Mundo Natural, in Tingo María province, Huánuco, Peru.

But we fight on, using every available method – sometimes a sprint is required and sometimes it’s a marathon. Immediate action to give care to confiscated parrots as soon as we hear about them, rehabilitation, and release once they are safe. Plus education and promoting alternative means of income in local communities, working to tighten legislation where scientific research shows it is necessary, and publicising the plight of parrots.

T

hey were there to begin the long road to recovery from their ordeal, which began when they were trapped in the wild by poachers.

This edition of PsittaScene gives several views on the trade in parrots; not all easy reading but knowledge is power, so it is essential for parrot-lovers to be aware of these difficult issues.

When they were first intercepted in July, the birds were crowded into wooden boxes normally used to transport fruit and were thirsty, starving and stressed.

We have some great uplifting reading too! We thank Evet Loewen for her story of a little parrot’s journey to a happier life as a companion, and we review a new book which features photographs of many species in the wild taken by a well-travelled author.

Our special thanks go to all the amazing people who donated to our year end campaign, you have helped us in our fight towards a world full of happy, healthy parrots.

Please enjoy your parrots this year – whether they share your home or you have the opportunity to see them living in their natural habitats.

Alison Hales WPT Chairperson

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What will be your legacy?

By including the World Parrot Trust in your will, trust or beneficiary designation, you are creating a personal legacy that will have a lasting impact for parrots and the places where they live.

For more information about including WPT in your planned giving opportunities, visit www.parrots.org/legacy, or contact the branch nearest to you (see page 19.)

The group was comprised of three widelydistributed native species: Canary-winged Parakeets (Brotogeris versicolorus), Duskyheaded Conures (Aratinga weddellii), and White-eyed Conures (Psittacara leucophthalmus). Peruvian authorities (Peruvian Police and ATFFS-Lima, one of the operative branches of the National Forestry and Wildlife Service of Perú - SERFOR) seized them as they were being transported after being trapped in the Peruvian rainforest.

They were on their way to Lima city, one of the main hubs for illegal wildlife trade.

Once they were in the hands of the authorities, the birds were given urgent first aid by the ATFFSLima staff, and the search for a place to house them began. Thankfully, the Centro de Rescate Mundo Natural works to rescue, rehabilitate and release rainforest-dwelling species,

mainly psittacids and xenarthras (armadillos, sloths and anteaters), for the purposes of wildlife conservation. The facility already had 94 Canary-winged Parakeets, survivors of a group of 220 birds received two months prior. They were seized in similar harrowing conditions in Lima. The centre has been caring for the birds since then at their own expense.

For the latest confiscation, SERFOR requested help from the World Parrot Trust, which provided funding for food for the birds during their rehabilitation, and will be funding the release flights. At the moment, the two groups of birds are recovering in preparation for their release into the Peruvian skies, along with a resident group of six Canary-winged Parakeets and two Cobalt-winged Parakeets (Brotogeris cyanoptera) given to the centre by the regional authorities of Huanuco in 2017.

From the route followed by the truck that brought the newly-rescued birds to Lima it was discovered that they were trapped in Central Peru. In a meeting held between SERFOR, the rescue centre and the department of Ornithology of the Museum of Natural History-UNMSM, it was agreed that Puerto Inca province, adjacent to Tingo María, would be a good place to eventually release them.

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The museum will chose an area with adequate habitat and food resources in order to prevent competition with local parrot populations.

Likewise, the museum has provided the supplies and protocol for future genetic identification of rescued parrots. Genetic testing would have been ideal to carry out before the current release, however it will have to wait for more funding.

The birds are being rehabilitated in a three-step process, beginning with the clinical phase, which assesses the birds’ overall condition.

The birds in better health were placed in quarantine for 45 days, where they adapted to their temporary captive diet and began to recover their muscle and feather condition.

Although these birds were the “healthier” ones upon arrival at the centre, they presented with wing feathers dirty and cut by their captors which made it difficult, if not impossible, for them to fly. Ten sick birds had to be separated from the group to receive individual veterinary treatment. Their main health problems were dehydration, trauma from poor handling, and starvation.

~ Jamie

© Rosa Elena Zegarra

© Centro de Rescate Mundo Natural Top: 350 parrots crowded into wooden fruit boxes Bottom: Their first night at the facility, receiving rehydration formula

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© Centro de Rescate Mundo Natural

The birds will be transported to aviaries set up in each of the two zones where the releases will take place. It is expected that the birds will be housed there for a period of two or three weeks prior to the release so they can familiarize themselves with the surrounding environment. Once the cages are opened and the birds are set free, supplementary food will be provided until they are able to forage completely on their own.

After 30 days the first thorough veterinary exam was carried out to assess feather and body condition, along with faecal tests and treatment for parasites. The birds were all also given vitamin supplements. As of this writing, most of them had regained their lost weight but sadly, in spite of intensive treatment, 11 did not survive.

The more fortunate birds went on to start the resocialization phase. In this part of the transition, the groups are brought together in large enclosures where they can exercise and gain strength, with staff providing environmental enrichment and opportunities to forage on local plants and fruits.

Finally, there is the pre-release and release phase, which consists of a detailed study of the release environment, and a look at how education and awareness has been established in the local community. It is hoped that local people can be involved in helping to spot and report on the parrots’ welfare once they’ve been released. Lastly, strategic agreements with different institutions have been put in place to help prevent disease transmission upon release.

The three groups at Centro de Rescate Mundo Natural have completed their quarantine and treatments, and are now well into the resocialization phase. The resident group has been united with the first group of Canary-wings and the second group (91 Canary-winged Parakeets, 13 White-eyed Conures and 16 Dusky-headed Conures) has been brought back together, since upon arrival they were separated by species to aid their recovery. As a final part of the path to freedom, the birds will go through testing to rule out the main diseases that could affect their health and that of the local wild birds.

These parrots have been lucky; so many are not when it comes to illegal trade. There is hope for these little ones and others, thanks to the collaboration and expertise of many people in Peru working to help their native parrots be free.

The authors wish to thank the staff of ATFFS Tingo María of the Regional Government of Huánuco, who gave their time and resources to make a six-hour trip to Huánuco and back to pick up the birds and take them to the Centro de Rescate Mundo Natural.

As the regional authority they will also provide technical and logistical support when the birds are eventually released.

© Centro de Rescate Mundo Natural

© Centro de Rescate Mundo Natural Top: A White-eyed Conure receives a health check by veterinary staff Middle: Canary-winged Parakeets rest in the quarantine area Bottom: One of the aviaries set up with natural enrichment and foraging stations

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